Drone protesters are in the right, DeWitt judges are in the wrong (Your letters)

The town of DeWitt has become an unwitting (and witless) accomplice to the swell of nonviolent resistance against weaponized drones.

According to an article in The Post-Standard published July 28, "Taxpayers in DeWitt have spent more than $53,000 to cover the extra costs associated with trials for people protesting drones at Hancock Field ... and ... those costs will continue to rise as ... more trials are scheduled in DeWitt Town Court."

These costly arrests and trials, well publicized nationally and internationally if not locally, have done more to promote and legitimize the growing opposition to drone warfare than everything the protesters themselves have accomplished through their relentless efforts of nonviolent witness and public outreach. The seasoned activists of the Upstate Coalition to Ground the Drones, who are the majority of those arrested and tried, might well say, "Thank you, taxpayers of DeWitt!"

Adding to this bounty of free publicity and taxpayer funding, DeWitt Town Court judges David Gideon and Robert Jokl have issued many bogus orders of protection, allegedly to "protect" the base commander, but really to keep arrested protesters away from Hancock. When the undaunted protesters return to the base, they are charged with violating those court orders, leading to still more costly and publicized litigation.

In one recent case, Judge Gideon sentenced a grandmother of three to a year in jail for allegedly violating her order of protection. This case has received worldwide coverage, promoting and strengthening the cause of drone opposition throughout the country.

This free promotion will only grow stronger as the case noisily winds its way through a lengthy (and very costly) appeals process, inevitably culminating in legal reversals and false arrest lawsuits.

Even DeWitt Supervisor Ed Michalenko has said that it is "imprudent" to serve orders of protection against these nonviolent protesters and their litigation is costing the town dearly. (One assumes that Hancock Air Base itself, at whose behest this Keystone Cops farce is playing out, pays no town taxes.)

Once again the valiant efforts of nonviolent resistance have been aided and abetted by judicial excess--this time provided by the hapless judges of the witless town of DeWitt.

What would we do without them?

Doug Noble
Member, Upstate Coalition to Ground the Drones
Rochester

They arrested a nonviolent grandmother for abuse

To the Editor:

I was arrested in DeWitt in an attempt to stop a crime in progress. The victims of this crime included women and children. The court issues restraining orders, also known as orders of protection, to limit the behavior of someone who harms or threatens to harm another person. There were many other people arrested with me that day, and many others who have been arrested since.

We gather in the main entrance of Hancock Field, the 174th Attack Wing of the Air National Guard. Lying down in the driveway of the main entrance was my attempt to stop the assassination of innocent people.

DeWitt court issued orders of protection against those who have been arrested protesting in front of the base. With these orders, there is the person charged with abuse, and the victim of abuse. In the perverse view of this court, the victim of abuse is "Colonel Earl Evans, Hancock's mission support commander." And one person charged with "abuse" is a nonviolent citizen--grandmother Mary Anne Grady Flores.

Now Mary Anne has been sentenced to one year in prison for violating an order of protection. She was simply photographing others who were participating in nonviolent actions at the base.

The behavior of Mr. Gideon, the judge for this case, and Mr. Evans is deeply disturbing. They should be ashamed for abusing and perverting an order of protection to silence dissent. The use of drones for targeted assassination is illegal and immoral.

Peter Bianco
New Hartford

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